Thousands of Muslims try to flee CAR capital

By JEROME DELAY and KRISTA LARSON Associated Press

Posted:
02/14/2014 06:04:04 AM CST

Updated:
02/14/2014 04:33:17 PM CST

Click photo to enlarge

A Christian man carries a charred mannequin wearing a Muslim veil in front of looted Muslim stores, past a convoy of over 100 vehicles of Muslims fleeing Bangui, Central African Republic, Friday Feb. 14, 2014. A convoy of thousands of Muslims heading to Chad had to turn around as MISCA troops, the African force deployed in the Central African Republic, deemed the road out was not secure.

BANGUI, Central African Republic—Thousands of Muslims who tried to flee the violence in Central African Republic's capital were turned back by peacekeepers Friday, as crowds of angry Christians shouted "we're going to kill you all."

The convoy was turned back as France announced it would send 400 more soldiers to its former colony mired in unprecedented sectarian fighting.

The U.N. chief, meanwhile, warned Friday that in Central African Republic "the very fabric of society, woven over generations, is being ripped apart."

"We must live up to the promises made around this table to act swiftly and robustly in the face of such bloodshed," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council on Friday.

Muslim Children are lifted into a truck that had fallen into a ditch while turning around in Bangui, Central African Republic, Friday, Feb. 14, 2014. A convoy of over 100 vehicles of Muslims fleeing Bangui turned around as MISCA troops, the African Union s peacekeeping force currently deployed in the Central African Republic, deemed the road out was not secure. ((AP Photo/Jerome Delay))

"We cannot claim to care about mass atrocity crimes and then shrink from what it means to actually prevent them."

In Bangui, some cars carried as many as 10 people as the convoy made its way through the capital, the second such mass exodus in a week. Christians gathered alongside the road to taunt the Muslims, many of whom have been targeted by murderous mobs in recent weeks.

But the convoy, which stretched as far as the eye could see, was turned back because peacekeepers feared it would be attacked when going through some volatile parts of Bangui.

The procession of vehicles was halted in the Miskine neighborhood, where one vehicle tumbled into a ditch on the side of the road.

Advertisement

On the orders of a Burundian captain, African peacekeepers went vehicle-to-vehicle instructing everyone to return to a local mosque, according to an Associated Press journalist at the scene.

Peacekeepers stopped the group before it passed through neighborhoods where fresh fighting had erupted Friday. At least one person was killed there in a grenade attack by Christian militiamen, according to witnesses at a nearby mosque.

French peacekeepers had to evacuate two other severely wounded people from an angry crowd that set tires on fire and was shouting anti-Muslim and anti-French slogans.

Tens of thousands of Muslims have fled for their lives as Christian militiamen and crowds of angry civilians have stepped up their attacks in recent weeks. Muslims have been killed by mobs almost every day and their bodies have been mutilated and dragged through the capital's streets, despite the presence of peacekeepers.

Victims have been accused of supporting the Muslim Seleka government forced from power last month. The Seleka rebels cited economic and political grievances, not religious ideology, in overthrowing the president of a decade. However, they became deeply despised and their armed fighters are accused of scores of human rights abuses against the country's Christian majority during their 10-month rule.

The violence against Muslims and their current exodus from Central African Republic is tantamount to "ethnic cleansing," according to warnings issued earlier this week by a top U.N. official and Amnesty International.

The head of the French mission in Central African Republic has called the Christian militiamen an "enemies of the peace," even though they started out as a way to protect Christians against the attacks by Muslim rebels.

Before the crisis, Muslims made up about 15 percent of Central African Republic's 4.6 million people. Most of the displaced Muslims have headed to Chad, a neighboring country that is predominantly Muslim and whose military has provided armed guards for departing convoys.

Outside the capital, an untold number of other Muslims have been slain. Amnesty International on Friday said its researchers found an 11-year-old girl alive among scores of bodies in a remote village west of the capital. Her parents were among the 20 people slain in an attack there that took place several days ago, the rights group said.

"The girl was crouching in a corner in an abandoned, ransacked house," said Donatella Rovera, senior crisis response Adviser at Amnesty International. "She was terrified and could barely speak. She had been hiding there since the massacre, four days before."

Other Muslims remain in hiding in other communities under the control of Christian militiamen, some seeking refuge inside churches offering protection. Nearly 1,000 people—mostly Muslims—are under threat in the southwestern town of Carnot, said Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders.

"Armed men have announced that they intend to track down and kill all the city's Muslims," the organization warned Thursday. "Anyone who hides Muslims is also at risk."

The organization said Christian militiamen had invaded hospitals in search of Muslims who had sought treatment and refuge. In another attack, the Christian fighters seized control of the town's airstrip, blocking outgoing flights of wounded patients, MSF said.

France strengthened its presence in its former colony to 1,600 troops in early December, who are joined by nearly 6,000 African peacekeepers. On Friday, France announced that it is increasing the number of its troops on the ground in Central African Republic by 400 for a total of 2,000.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York that the bloc has commitments for more than the 500 troops it initially expected to send to Central African Republic and "is looking at double that number."

The EU contingent is expected to be based at the airport in Bangui, where 100,000 people have taken refuge.

"The EU remains concerned about the heavy civilian casualties, massive displacements of people, serious human rights violations and a worsening of the humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic," Ashton said. "It is imperative for the international community to act to enable a lasting solution to the chaos."

The U.N. secretary-general has dispatched an envoy to the country to consult with the African Union about possibly transforming the African force there into a U.N. peacekeeping force, though such a mission could take up to six months to become operational on the ground.